Small spaces

We have been on the move again. It really makes us appreciate staying in one place for three weeks – and not moving suitcases.

Birmingham new street station

When planning we aim for accomodation near train stations, so we don’t have to walk far. This time we are staying above a grill & rooms… and they appear to have good looking dry aged steaks. But we will have to let you know after dinner!

Blog post..?

It’s cold here in Birmingham. – just in case you are sitting in sunny Australia and thinking you are not looking forward to summer.

Well here in England, I would not be looking forward to winter. Thankfully I’m only here for another week.

Yesterday at this time it was a warm 2 degrees – and the wind is cold! While it is cold – at least it’s not raining. To stay warm while cycling yesterday I was wearing seven layers of clothing – and two of the shirts were heatech clothing (Japanese brand of thermal, I should of pack the ‘extra warm’ shirt), a puffy vest (the down was obtained responsibly), and a jacket. I understand now why Europeans have very warm jackets and wear tshirts underneath. Clearly I’m not used to living in this climate!

Day 10: Slow Tour of Yorkshire

The Hull Hustle

The final day of our Slow Tour of Yorkshire allegedly involved a loop around the city of Hull. We did have a GPX file to follow. But we quickly abandoned that route and followed something more random.

Part 1 of the route broadly followed the River Hull and then moved towards Hull University. Coffee and food provisions were bought from Newland avenue.

Part 2 of the route involved a random ride towards Helen’s Uncle’s House. If you follow it pop in and say hi to Bob.

Part 3 of the route involved a direct ride back to the Hideout Homebase along Anlaby Road in the wet!

The first two parts of the route are provided below, The last part, unfortunately, was not recorded. You know how it goes with tech. Works 95% of the time but let’s you down for the last 5%.

We spent three weeks in Hull. We found a city with a group of people that are taking the history of Hull and making something with it. There is a good theatre and music scene. There is also good food and coffee.

Frankly, the Hull City Council has continued to improve the shopping and old town areas. Everywhere is having a tough time with commercial properties given the disruption of retail by the internet. But I wonder whether Adelaide is a one-trick pony. Rundle Mall in the 1970s can not be all there is to be done? So many of our city streets are run down and there are indeed things that our Adelaide City Council could learn from Hull.

If you’re in Yorkshire – visit Hull – it might be at the end of the train line – but it has much to offer. Here are some photos to tempt you.

Resources

  • If you actually want to follow the correct loop, then it is available from Let’s Ride UK.

Day 9: Slow Tour of Yorkshire

You know it’s big when …

Like the Tour de France, the Slow Tour of Yorkshire demonstrates its success by leaving its namesake for this stage of the tour. While starting at Hessle, most of Day 9 was actually conducted in neighbouring Lincolnshire after crossing the Humber Bridge. Overall the ride was about 49km.

Humber Bridge

The Humber Bridge is:

  • a breath-taking, Grade 1 listed structure which links Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on the A15.
  • a single span road suspension bridge
  • fifth longest bridge of its kind in the world
  • one of Hull and East Yorkshire’s most iconic landmarks.

Lincolnshire

Most of this figure 8 ride was undertaken on quite country lanes. While there were some steady climbs the downhills were the best of the ride.

The views included farming, ports, industry and mining. A truly worthwhile ride. Barton upon Humber was the only significant urban area that we traversed.

The route has a special loop into Ulceby so you can visit the team rooms for lunch. Te@6 offered a lovely ploughman board and soup for lunch. Along with some good tea!

The villages had some fine buildings and a nice duck pond.

Hessle

The ride back over the Humber Bridge in the afternoon was better than the ride in the morning. Less wind and more sun.

We finished off the ride by heading into the village of Hessle. This is a well serviced area with a range of shops and coffee shops. It has plenty of bus services to Hull and is serviced by train services.

Resources

Day 8: Slow Tour of Yorkshire

Goole, Howden and surrounding areas

On Day 8 we visited the Goole and Howden area. Surveyed the region with a loop ride. Howden is:

  • a small historic market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
  • dominated by its Minster.
  • strategically placed as one of the most inland ports in the UK.

The ride was made up of a number of distinct segments which we found on a nationwide bicycle route and group ride site called Let’s Ride. The first map shows the route we took from Goole to Howden. We then returned to Goole to catch the train back to Hull.

Goole to Howden

The route from Goole to Howden was largely traffic free path alongside (for the most part) a faintly busy minor road. But it did the trick of getting us to Howden. Crossing both the motorway and the Ouse River.

Howden

Howden is certainly dominated by its Minister. Part of the Minister is a ruin.

Howden seems to be well served with trendy eateries and wine bars. But this ride was on Monday, so some where closed. The ones open were doing good business. We went to the Kitchen – which seems to make the biggest cakes in the world. Our lunch was HUGE – I had to put the wide angle lens on my iPhone to fit in the boards.

After lunch we did a loop ride from Howden to Howden. It was quite country lanes, which meant that the ride was fast and fun! They are certainly the best routes to ride.

Overall the ride was about 30km. We did visit the Goole Library when we returned. If you are concerned that we are not getting enough libraries in.

Resources

Day 7: Slow Tour of Yorkshire

Hull to Fort Paull

Day 7 sees the Slow Tour return to Hull for start on a special route created by us based on bike maps and Google. The route leaves from Hull on a rail trail towards Hedon ending at the Fort Paull Musesum, which is:

  • Yorkshire’s only remains Napoleonic fortress.
  • a gun battery situated on the north bank of the Humber.
  • full of Underground tunnels and rooms.
  • the home to the world’s only remaining Blackburn Beverley aircraft.
  • in need of renovation badly, a clean up with a duster wouldn’t harm the place and a fresh lick of paint.
  • very interesting and informative about the history and uses of the site.
About 21km according Strava

Hull

The ride starts in the old town of Hull. We stayed at the Hideout Hotel in the old town – well located near markets and good food.

The ride moves to the Museums Quarter of Hull, with the Streetlife Museum, William Wilberforce House and the Hull and East Riding. We checked these museums out as part of this ride.

The ride towards Hedon is mostly traffic free following the Humber River east. Thus taking in some industrial sites including the Siemens factor making wind turbines. The route then transfers to a rail trail, after a crossing the busy A63 road.

Hedon

After crossing over the rail line with a bridge, the rail trail starts of quite well with a pleasant tarmac surface. About halfway along, however, it turns to a very narrow mud track, great fun if you have a BMX. This where Google let us down – the Sustrans paper map did have an exclamation mark on this part of the route suggesting that it might be rough!

Hedon is a pleasant village with a nice church and shopping area. It has all the services (and a range of barbers) that a local village needs. I had a Hawaiian gammon for lunch!

This was quite tasty – almost as good as my cooked ham

Paull

Paull is a Humberside village that includes the Fort Paull Museum. I think the dot points above fairly summarise this place. Below are some photos for you.

We caught the 79 Bus back to Paragon Hull interchange. Be careful they are infrequent.

Resources